The New Girl
by broken x faith
Summary: An American comes to Hogwarts to shake things up! (rated PG-13 for possible future chapters)
1. Harry

Harry slowly pushed his mashed potatoes along the outside of his plate, completing the fifteenth full revolution since lunch had begun. He sighed and looked around the room absentmindedly, taking in the same familiar people he had been cohabitating with for six years. It was the second weekend of Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts School for Witches and Wizards, and so far it didn't seem to be a very promising year. Harry sighed again, not wanting to recall the events of his fifth year at Hogwarts. It was difficult not to, though, since everyone else at the school seemed so wary of it. Even his best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger seemed cautious around him. Everyone's attitudes had only made Harry confine himself to his room for hours at a time, doing homework or polishing his beloved broomstick, the Firebolt. But even Quidditch was difficult for Harry. His broom was a present from his godfather, Sirius, who was murdered by a group of Death Eaters. Not a day went by that Harry didn't miss Sirius. He had saved all of Sirius' letters and put them in his scrapbook, behind all the pictures of his parents. But Harry didn't want to think of that any more. It had become too difficult for Harry to dwell on all of his losses. He just felt stuck, surrounded by the all too familiar faces of Hogwarts, where nothing seemed to go right. Of course, he still loved his school. He wasn't entirely sure he could stand to be any place else, and he was grateful for it. Dumbledore especially had helped him survive the seemingly endless summer. But now he was back, and alone. Alone. That's how Harry really felt, like there was no one else out there. And there really wasn't. Harry's frustration rose, like it had thousands of times since Sirius' death. Why him? Why always him? Malfoy would scornfully spit, "The great, ever suffering Harry Potter. Oh boo hoo Potter, do you need a tissue?" But he never asked to be the "great Harry Potter." And he would give nearly anything just to be a normal kid. He craved normality, being normal meant knowing his parents. It meant being able to have Sirius over for dinner if he wanted to. Being normal meant no more freak accidents, no more tests to see how strong the "great Harry Potter" really was. Tears welled up in Harry's eyes, but he had cried enough. He threw down his fork and flew out to Hagrid's hut, nearly knocking someone over in his haste. 


	2. Ron and Hermione

Ron and Hermione stared bleakly at Hagrid, ignoring their steaming tea. "I know. You don't want to hear it, not again. I'm sure everyone's been tellin' ya. But you both know it's the truth. You just need-"Hagrid was interrupted fiercely by Ron. "-to wait. Yeah, we know. We just need to wait for Harry to come around. We just need to be gentle and understanding and Harry will go back to how he used to be. Maybe. But Hagrid, maybe not, OK? I mean, what happened to Harry last year...and everything else that's happened to him, I just mean that Hermione and I don't understand. We can't understand, and frankly, that scares us. We don't want Harry to become someone else. Someone bitter and lonely. We...we..." Ron stammered, trying to fight the lump in his throat. "We care for Harry. And we miss him." Hermione whispered, a lone tear sliding down her face. Hagrid leaned over and touched Hermione's hand. "And he cares about you. Both of ya. But he's been though a lot, you know that. And it's going to take some time." Hermione abruptly stood up, accidentally upending her tea, which had gone cool. "How long Hagrid? We've been coming to see you since the semester started. Every single day, and you've been there for us...but Harry hasn't. He hasn't been there for anyone, including himself. He's just...empty." Ron nodded morosely, not trusting himself to speak. Hagrid handed Hermione his large, checked handkerchief before beginning to mop up the spilled tea. "I don't have those answers, Hermione. No one does, not even Harry." Hagrid's already raspy voice grew even gruffer, thick with emotion and unshed tears. "But ya just gotta keep tryin'. Yer doin' well, I know you are. Harry will open up eventually. Don't ya give up on 'im." Ron smiled weakly. "Of course we wouldn't Hagrid. You know we wouldn't. I guess we should go back to the common room, Harry's probably done eating lunch by now." Hermione grabbed her cloak and the two set off towards the school. She couldn't pretend that it hadn't hurt when Harry had told both her and Ron that he would prefer to eat alone, during the second half of their lunch periods, if possible. Ron had been angry at first, but she had convinced him that they should let Harry have some alone time. She knew he had a lot on his mind, so she had assured him that both she and Ron were fine with it, and if he changed his mind, they would love to eat lunch with him. He had just nodded and went back into his room. Harry had requested to have a separate room from everyone else, but Dumbledore had refused. Instead, he granted Harry the use of a private study, where he could be alone if he felt necessary. Hermione had understood; Dumbledore didn't want to further isolate Harry. But Harry was doing such a good job of it himself, Hermione felt Dumbledore hadn't needed to bother. 


End file.
